Winx Club: Topaz and the Phoenix's Stone
by Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel
Summary: Co-written with SolarianSunshine. Topaz goes to Alfea to turn over a new leaf and become a full-fledged fairy. There, she meets the Winx Club and realises that not all of her answers are carved in stone.
1. Chapter 1

**Winx Club: Topaz and the Phoenix's Stone  
****Chapter 1: Topaz of Diamente**

By _Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel_ and _SolarianSunshine_ (Phoebe)

Monday, September 6, 2010

**Disclaimer:** The authors do not own or profit from the Winx Club or the character Topaz. Winx Club belongs to Rainbow S.p.a. and the character Topaz belongs to the winner Amy of the _Winx-Fairies_'s Fan Character Contest (2010). The villains belong to the authors.

**About this fanfiction:** _Winx-Fairies_ held a Fan Character Contest that started in April and recently ended on September 1st. The character that had the best grade from the two judges (the authors) and did well in the polls won. The prize was a fanfiction written by Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel and SolarianSunshine featuring the winning character and the Winx Club. The story _Winx Club: Topaz and the Phoenix's Stone_ is the prize.

Please enjoy!

* * *

"The Phoenix is an immortal magical bird made from the breath of the Great Dragon. Every millennia, the Phoenix bursts into fire and ash and from those ashes, a new egg is found. The egg is incubated in the hot ashes and a chick hatches. That's how it is reborn. Of all the creatures, the Phoenix is symbolically opposite to the Dragon. The Phoenix is a symbol of femininity as the Dragon is masculinity. I'll leave the rest of the details up to your fellow classmates for next week's class presentation. Now, questions on today's topics?"

A few hands in the classroom went up.

Professor Avalon snapped his fingers and then the class was bathed with light. He answered the questions promptly as the windows' curtains parted to let in sunlight and the professor's magical slideshow on the chalkboard disappeared. The professor continued: "I want to have your groups and your chosen subject in before you leave."

Bloom glanced in her periphery to Flora, silently asking if she could join her group. Flora smiled. Bloom had nothing against her best friend, the blond princess Stella, as a teammate, but she often ended up doing more talking about their boyfriends than actually getting any work done.

Their Bestiary class was ending and Professor Avalon had just finished a two hour lecture on about a dozen of the most socioculturally important magical creatures on their side of the galaxy. Alfea School for Fairies was in its third week of the first semester and about everyone was settled into the weekly routine.

Flora turned and faced Bloom, pulling out the list of creatures that had been discussed.

"What do you want to do?" Flora asked.

"Um…" Bloom was about to say, "Dragon," when she realized that it would be too easy of a topic for her. She _was _the fairy of the Dragon Fire, after all.

"I don't really want to do Griffins after the Mirror of Truth thing…" Flora said uneasily.

"Yeah..." Bloom agreed. "No dragons, no griffins."

"I want to do Phoenixes."

Bloom readily agreed, liking the idea of researching a beautiful and fantastic bird.

The two fairies stood up and gathered their things to join the queue in front of the professor's desk. They were the last group to write down their name and subject.

There was a knock on the door and Miss Griselda entered, toting her usual clipboard and frown.

"Professor, I'd like to introduce you to your new student." Miss Griselda disregarded Bloom and Flora's presence as they filled out the signup sheet. "This is Topaz, she's a latecomer to the college. This is her first year here, but she being placed in your third year classes."

Topaz was a girl of about medium height wearing an orange dress and her long wavy brown hair was tied in a ponytail. She had sapphire blue eyes with a smile subtly pulling at her cheeks. She held a small stack of books in her arms and she smiled awkwardly at everyone, including Bloom and Flora.

"Hi." Topaz's voice was fairly soft, almost inaudible because of the first-day nervousness that struck every student.

Miss Griselda nodded to Topaz. "I think that you can find your way now, Topaz. I'll leave you to your own devices. Classes start tomorrow at eight and breakfast starts at six-thirty. If you have questions, you can always ask them." Miss Griselda pointed to Flora and Bloom. Sure that her fledgling was in good hands, the disciplinarian left.

"Hello, Topaz," Professor Avalon greeted warmly. "You'll have quite a bit of catching up to do in my class. All of my class handouts and presentations can be found online and there's also some required reading to do. Right now, we have a bestiary presentation due next week. That counts for your final mark so I'm afraid that I'll have to place you in a group." The professor turned to Bloom and Flora: "Girls, would you mind having Topaz in your group?"

"Sure," Flora said. Bloom nodded.

"Good." Professor Avalon wrote down Topaz's name with Bloom and Flora's on the signup sheet. "You'll be doing a presentation on the Phoenix, Topaz."

"Thanks," Topaz said to Bloom and Flora, watching them from under her thick eyelashes. The three fairies walked out of the classroom.

"So where are you from?" Bloom questioned eagerly as soon as the door was behind them. She was always excited to find out where people came from and what their powers were; the diversity was so fascinating! After being raised on Earth, she thirsted for every drop of information about magic.

"I was born on Diamente, but I was raised on Melody. I heard that Princess Galatea is at this school, is it true?"

"Oh, yes," Flora said. "Our friend Musa is also from Melody. She's friends with her. If you don't mind me asking, how come you're starting so late in the year?"

"My mom and I are kind of in the middle of moving and I had to help her, since it's only just us two."

"And your dad?" Bloom pried.

"Why is this any of your business?" Topaz said parsimoniously.

"I'm sorry; pretend I never asked," Bloom said quickly. The fairy felt a pang of sympathy and did not wish to bring up anything painful on Topaz's first day of school. She also felt a little stung from Topaz's reaction as she had not expected the defiance.

"I… never mind," Topaz sighed as she straightened her shoulders and walked ahead of the other girls to their dormitories. Flora and Bloom left it at that.

They arrived at their dorms and that is where they had parted. They agreed to meet together in the library after dinner to start the bestiary project.

OOOOO

"The Phoenix is a symbol of fortune and can be considered the harbinger of good and bad luck. It is unknown how many Phoenixes there are, one that travels across the universe or an entire race of firebirds as diverse as fairies. The Phoenix is universally recognized in most cultures, in one form or another. Sometimes, they can be mistaken for dragons." Topaz closed the encyclopedia and pushed it away from herself.

Across from her, Bloom was finding the same facts in another encyclopedia.

Bloom dropped her pencil. "Our presentation is going to suck, there's nothing on these guys!" The fairy sighed and looked at Topaz intensely. "I don't know if it's right to ask like this, but what are your powers?"

Topaz smiled as pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "I have powers over gemstones. You know Princess Diaspro, that really crazy one? Kinda like her."

"Oh." Bloom glanced away, refusing to show how affected she was by the name Diaspro. Topaz did not need to know that story.

"Um, are you _the_ Princess Bloom of…?"

"Yes, I am," Bloom answered hurriedly.

Flora summoned a stack of books pertaining to bestiaries and magical birds with a wave of her hand and was disappointed by the small pile before her. Most of them were small and held very little information, or had the same information in different words.

Flora pouted. "If there's nothing here, there's surely something at Red Fountain. They're the ones who specialized in these kinds of things. And then there's also the municipal library in Magix. Maybe we can go on Friday afternoon? All of our classes end early. I can also take a detour in the RF library when I go to visit Helia tomorrow." A slight blush burnt on her cheeks when she said Helia's name.

They all agreed and arranged to meet after class on Friday to grab the shuttle to Magix.

OOOOO

Flora's foray into the Red Fountain library proved much more successful than the one into the Alfea library; however the topic of the Phoenix was limited to ornithological reports, a compiled list of possible sightings and boundless crackpot theories. Bloom, Flora and Topaz were joined by Musa, Layla, Stella and Tecna. Musa and Layla were doing a presentation on Dragons and Stella and Tecna on the Cockatrice.

Normally, one would think that pairing Stella and Tecna together for a project would result in Tecna doing all the work. Tecna, however, was not the pushover who would let that happen. Stella respected that in the technology fairy, as well as Stella could respect anyone. It allowed her to actually concentrate and do the work.

The three groups sat apart in the Magix Municipal Library hunched over old volumes. Topaz wrote down the number of a book that had interested her and that she had found on the digital catalogue. She walked out of the Science section and to Literature section but she did not realize it.

Her fingers danced across the book spines to the end of the shelf. Unexpectedly her hand crossed another that pulled out a book.

"I'm sorry. I need this," the other person said rather rudely as he walked away.

Topaz brushed off the occurrence until she realized that the person had walked away with the book she was looking for. She quickened her pace, trying to catch up to him.

"Hey!" She called out, before realized how loud she was. He had his back to her, and seemed not to even notice, still walking. "Um, hey? Can I check that book for a minute?"

The stranger stopped abruptly, and Topaz almost ran into him. He turned to scrutinize her.

"Strange," he observed. "Do I know you?"

The dark-haired blue-eyed stranger was aboutthe same age as Topaz, or possibly a little older. He was quite a bit taller than her, and Topaz recognized his clothes as very, _very_ expensive brand names: dark jeans, suit jacket and a silk shirt. He seemed out of place in the dusty library.

"Uh, I don't think so. I'm new around here. Look, I'm sorry to bother you, but can I borrow that book?" Topaz pleaded softly, both of her hands clasped together.

The man gave her a blank stare and then turned, replying coldly, "I have somewhere to be. You can have it when I return it."

Topaz glared at his distancing back, mumbling something nasty under her breath. Crestfallen, she sighed and turned back to join the others.

OOOOO

Slowly, Topaz adapted to her new life in Alfea. She knew she had to if she wanted to keep up her good grades.

After a particularly strenuous day, Topaz fell into bed. It was late. Jade, her magical pet mouse, was asleep in her basket that was hung from the ceiling like a bird's cage. She could hear the mouse's little breaths. Moonlight spilt into Topaz's room through the window, illuminating her room in that eerie way that only moonlight could.

The brunette fairy piled some pillows under her chest and crossed her arms. She looked out her window into the courtyard. She could see the opposite school wing from the gap in the curtains. Melancholy fell upon her as she looked at her unfamiliar surroundings. She knew her way around the school, but it didn't mean it was her home yet.

Across the courtyard on the balcony opposite to hers, Topaz saw someone, a woman, step outside onto the balcony and then hop over the railing to make her way down to the courtyard.

Feeling that she was witnessing something that was completely none of her business, Topaz felt compelled to watch the fairy make her escape. She followed with her eyes the escapee who made her way to the school gate. There, a man met her and both of them made their way into the night.

A date most likely, Topaz thought. The brunette pulled the curtains together and curled under her blanket to sleep away the night. She had other things to worry about, like her workshop in the forest to collect plant samples for Potions class.


	2. Chapter 2

**Winx Club: Topaz and the Phoenix's Stone  
Chapter 2: Creature in the Forest**

By _Kikurukina Bal Des'cagel_ and _SolarianSunshine_ (Phoebe)

Monday, September 6, 2010

**Disclaimer:** The authors do not own or profit from the Winx Club or the character Topaz. Winx Club belongs to Rainbow S.p.a. and the character Topaz belongs to the winner Amy of the _Winx-Fairies_'s Fan Character Contest (2010). The villains belong to the authors.

* * *

It was at the god-awful seven o'clock in the morning that Topaz found herself in the middle of the forest with her classmates and the really cute teacher, Professor Palladium. She sat on the damp grass with her backpack full of empty vials and jars. It was Saturday and there were no classes, which made it, in Professor Palladium`s mind, the perfect day to plan a 'optional' class excursion to prepare for the final exams; optional as in 'obligatory,' if one wanted to pass the class.

After a quick debriefing about safety, they students split into the groups. Topaz wounded up with Musa. Topaz had become friends with Musa quickly because they had both come from Melody and soon after, Musa had introduced Topaz to Princess Galatea. Musa was somewhat silent and pensive that morning. They had to collect some plants and classify them later.

Topaz and Musa hiked up the dirt road. For the most part, Topaz had been following Musa because she was unfamiliar with the forests around Alfea. The dirt road went uphill and eventually split into two. They took the right path.

"I hate this," Musa complained.

"How much farther do we have to go?" Topaz said.

"We have to get up to the top of the hill. Over there, there's a spring where a whole bunch of white claudias grows. We can pick up some aglaophotis on the way." Musa shouldered her backpack and they trudged on. Topaz sensed that Musa was a little sad about something. She looked like she needed a pick-me-up of some sort.

It was slightly chilly. The dirt path was not smooth; more like rocky and unsteady, and Topaz was just about fed up with the constant threat of falling down on her butt.

Up ahead, a girl was descending the steep path. She had long black hair, red eyes and pale skin. She kept her eyes to the ground to watch her step. She was also wearing the most inappropriate clothes for hiking in the woods: short heels, a denim skirt and leather jacket. She had a hard time keeping her balance on the slope.

The girl took one false step and she ended up on her bottom, inadvertently sliding down the slope and causing a mini rockslide in her wake.

She cursed violently.

Musa laughed heartily and the girl glared at her dangerously.

Topaz and Musa went to help the girl.

"You okay?" Musa asked. "You're not exactly in the best hiking clothes." Musa offered her a hand.

"Bug off!" The girl flapped away Musa's hand and stood up by herself.

"Calm down! I'm only helping."

"Whatever." The girl snorted and continued on her way down. She whispered a spell to get off all the dirt on her clothes.

Musa waited until she was a good distance away before she started griping.

"Geesh, what a witch!"

"Is she from Cloud Tower?" Topaz asked.

"Probably."

"What's she doing all the way up here in Alfea's neck of the woods?"

Musa sighed. "Who knows what they're planning? It's probably something really annoying again, like a prank."

"If the witches come to Alfea so often to play pranks, why don't we go to their school and do the same?"

"What?"

"Y'know, return the favour. Would it be that bad if the fairies did some pranks to the witches?"

Musa looked at Topaz curiously. "Because fairies don't do that."

"Says who?" Topaz smirked. "It's not as if it would be hard to get into Cloud Tower. You told me that you had done it once a few years ago."

"You just made my last year at Alfea a whole lot more interesting."

"Are you serious? This is the first time you've ever thought of that?"

Musa turned. "Com' on, the spring isn't that far up," she said as they continued to walk.

"No, but seriously?" Topaz continued.

"I never really thought of it that way. I've always been stuck on following the rules because of what happened in the last two years. Not that I really followed the rules anyways, but I did try!"

"Maybe we can do it at the end of the year?"

"That would be awesome. Maybe near graduation but what would we do? The grad witches always come up with something."

The two fairies chattered away for most of the walk until they reached the spring. They were not the only fairies from Alfea to reach the spring. Tecna waved them over to the area in front of a boulder that she had staked out. They spread out some food for a midmorning breakfast and compared their collections so far.

Topaz was eager for the reprieve from the arduous walk up the mountain.

"Hey, Tecna, Topaz had this awesome idea. What do you think if we pulled a prank on the witches for grad?" Musa said between bites of a sandwich.

Tecna stared dubiously. "Musa, don't you dare…"

They finished their food quickly and resumed their hike through the forest. The walk was not as steep. The forest loomed over their heads to block the sunlight from ever touching the forest floor. It was colder and the light bended around the branches eerily. It looked enchanting, like a series of magical arches that would lead to somewhere fantastic, save for the tire tracks on the ground. Topaz was awed by the forest.

Musa paused to listen carefully with her sensitive hearing. She heard the crunching of leaves under heavy boots and trails of conversation. "Red Fountain's here."

"Is that bad?"

"I don't think so. Plus, we have work to do. Let's keep going."

They crested the hill and happened upon a camp clearing beside a small lake. There was a red Fountain truck and some specialists keeping watch. They walked by them. Musa had said to Topaz that it was normal to see them in the forest and that they should not really pay attention to them and that they should try to stay out of their way, if possible.

Fat grey clouds started to cover the sky as Topaz and Musa circled the lake to get to the other side. They were looking for moonflowers, a type of flower opened its petal when the moon was out. They were silvery white bulbs that floated on the lake's surface.

"It`s going to rain now, I think," Topaz said looking up.

"Yeah."

They stepped from rock to rock trying to reach the flowers without falling. Musa froze to listen again. She could hear the crackling of leaves under boots. She turned and saw specialists walking in the forest towards them.

"Riven?" she called out.

Riven and Brandon, in their uniforms, stepped out of the trees.

"Musa, you and your friend need come with us now," Riven said.

"Wha—why? Who are you to—where were you yesterday? You were supposed to meet me yesterday," Musa said angrily.

"Guys, not now," Brandon said.

Topaz looked at Brandon, who watched Musa and Riven argue with irritation.

"I`ve been in the forest for three days trying to figure out what going on here. Give me a break. There's something dangerous in the forest right. Just come with us."

Musa harrumphed. "This forest is always dangerous. I'm a fairy, I can deal with it."

Topaz spoke up, "Shouldn't we cooperate with them, Musa?"

Musa looked rebellious.

"Musa, just come with us," Brandon said and began to walk. Topaz, unsure, looked at Musa before she finished putting her flower in a jar, arranged her stuff and followed after Brandon.

"What's going on exactly?"

"With those two? I don't know. One moment they're all over each other and next, they're fighting. Riven was supposed to go out with her last night but we've been stuck in the forest for days working." Brandon stopped to turn and see if Riven and Musa were following. They were. Musa was fuming and walking ahead of Riven. "By the way, I'm Brandon."

"I'm Topaz." She shook his hand and smiled. "The fairy of gemstones."

"Really? Do you think that you could help me then?"

"Sure."

Brandon pulled something out of his pouch. Topaz stared at it curiously. It was a weirdly shaped quartz stone, round and smooth with milky grey colours.

"What is that?" Topaz palmed the stone and looked at it carefully. As the fairy of gemstones, she could identify most stones without trouble, even if she has never held it before. "This is quartz but…quartz can't form like this naturally…"

"It's petrified."

"Ah, of course. Why is it cut like this? Where's it from?"

"From a white-haired deer's antler."

Topaz dropped the stone out of surprise. Brandon picked it up and put back in his pouch.

"None of the animals in the forest can petrify. Something is going around petrifying animals. I think that this lake is its watering hole. It can't be that far and I really do not want to take chances."

Musa and Riven joined them and they resumed walking.

Topaz felt jittery after holding the antler-stone. She felt on edge and cautious watched the forest. She had seen a lot of animals in the forest already. Many of the animals were used to contact from students. Topaz had spotted three does and a buck on the way up in the distance. She heard that it was normal for pixie animals to wonder into the quad at Alfea.

Brandon stopped. "Wolves." He pointed at the shore where a trio wolves of standing deep in the water.

Naturally, there were still predator animals that ate the other animals and Topaz felt stupid for not realising that. She felt even more on edge.

"What do we do?"

"We'll just walk around them," Riven said. He started to walk up into the forest. They all followed him up onto to the hill.

Riven, who was leading, walked a straight line towards the Red Fountain truck, but Topaz was nerved by the fact that she was not walking on the paths. Maybe it was because she did not know the forests enough.

The forests were denser than Topaz had expected. There were small saplings everywhere getting in the way.

The dark grey clouds above them rumbled with thunder and then it started to rain heavily. Globs of water fell on them but they kept their pace steady walking along the bottom of a mossy precipice.

"Does it always rain like this in Magix?" Topaz asked.

"I heard that the meteomagic office was planning to make it rain today, but we never know how much. It's magic after all. Not everything is perfect," Musa said. "I didn`t think it would be this bad, though."

"It's a given. When it rains, it pours in Magix. It's worst in the forest than in the city," Riven added. He stopped suddenly and Musa walked into him. Riven raised an arm signalling to stop walking.

Topaz felt the ground below her tremble and she saw rocks tumble. Musa heard the screechy caw of a creature in the distance. She honed in on where it was coming from and everyone followed her gaze. The boys were on their guard immediately.

"Let's keep going," Brandon said.

Riven continued along the side of the precipice. "There's a cave along here that we can stop to get out of the rain for a bit."

It was not so much as a cave as a steep overhanging cliff. Either way, everyone was grateful for a reprieve from the rain. Musa sat down on a stone and fished some food out of her bag. She offered the trail mix to everyone.

Topaz looked around at the cave. It was the first time that she had ever been in a cave. Something caught her eye: strange-shaped stones. She walked to it and halted.

"What is that?"

Brandon glanced momentarily at what Topaz was point at. He sniffed the air delicately. "A carcass." After a longer glance at the skeleton, "It's a harpy carcass. Let's leave now. I don't want to meet the thing that ate that," he said.

They all got up and started to walk again. Unexpectedly, another harpy carcass fell from the sky right beside them. Topaz thought she almost died from fright. She watched as the last vestiges of life left the poor creature with a horrific fascination. Riven urged her and Musa to keep moving forward like Brandon before they got a good look at it.

"Run!"

The hair on the back of Topaz's neck stood on end as she heard the deafening caw of whatever creature had just dropped the body. A shadow passed by them and Brandon stopped. In the sky above them, a large winged creature eyed them before turning to dive at them. The girls hit the ground after Riven pushed them to dodge the monster`s hook-like claws.

Topaz hastily got up and turned to look at the creature. She saw its back. It had a long serpentine tail but with a feathery body. It looked to be part bird and it was twice as tall as her for sure.

The monster turned to face them but Topaz did not get a chance to get a good look at it when Riven pushed her to run.

The ground trembled. It was following them. It had the gait of a long-legged bird and it kept up with them easily. It had a horrendous shriek that made Musa clutch her ears. The creaking of wood falling and cracking behind them could be heard. Adrenaline coursed in Topaz's veins. Survival was top priority.

Musa slipped in the mud and slide down into the monster's range and death's reach.

"Musa!" Riven said.

Topaz turned around. "_Diamond rain!_" A volley of diamond shards flew at the monster. She pulled Musa up and they ran as the monster screeched in pain. It flapped its giant feathered wings and backed away. Diamonds clattered to ground all around Musa.

Topaz dropped her pack and started to transform. Musa followed her example. The creature cawed and stepped back further from the light of their transformation.

Musa flew out from under the monster and landed beside Topaz. She examined Topaz's bright eye-catching outfit. She had angular wings with an orange tank top with sheer sleeves, an orange skirt over sheer harem pants and matching shoes.

Topaz and Musa rendezvoused with Brandon and Riven and they reviewed their options in the short time that the beast was occupying itself with the splintered diamonds in its wings.

"We can't destroy this thing. No way! It's too big and we're only two fairies who can fly away. We can't leave you guys behind."

"But we can run with this thing behind us," Topaz said throwing another irritating volley of diamonds.

It screeched again and Musa covered her ears. She threw up a sonic shield to lessen the intensity of the beast's caw. They looked to see the beast pick at its leathery wings. It had black leathery wings with a long neck under a fierce raptorial head. It had a crown of red feathers on its head, like a rooster's, standing up proud. It had no arms, only wings and two legs. Its skin was covered in feathers and sometimes they would turn to hard scales. It looked fierce like a dragon.

"Then beat it down until it can't follow us anymore or it runs from us," Riven said.

"I have an idea." Brandon pulled out a rope and tossed one end to Riven. "Keep it distracted while we tie this around its leg," he said to the fairies.

They flew into action. Topaz's heart pounded as they threw spell after spell at it to keep it in place. The boys worked quickly to surround the beast at its legs without getting trampled or noticed with the rope. With some fancy knot work, they tied behind it. Then the boys escaped quickly.

It tried to take a step forward but couldn't. It seemed perplex and tried to find out what was hindering it. In its attempt, it fell down in a resounding crash.

Topaz wanted to run now!

It lifted itself on its wings. Its breast expanded like a balloon.

It opened its mouth wide and let out a powerful aural blast at the two fairies blasting them into the ground. Musa screamed as her ears wanted to explode. The blast blew the debris away and stirred up the forest floor. It was like a bomb had gone off right in front of them.

Topaz feared for her life and tried to concentrate on erecting a shield. Fortunately, the sensorial explosion stopped and she was met with an eerie silence. Her body hurt. She did not want to get up but she had to. She crawled unto her knees and looked for Musa who was clutching a bleeding ear.

Concerned, she was at the music fairy's side as fast as possible. Topaz could feel her magic depleting. She did not know what to do. She helped her up and tried to manoeuvre her to someplace safer.

"Girls!" a voice said. It was Professor Palladium!

The elven professor came running out with a sword in hand muttering battle incantations at the beast. His proved more effective than the fairies.

Riven snuck up on it and tossed himself over the beast's neck riding it. He pulled out his sword and struck what would hopefully be the final blow: in its right golden eye. Unfortunately, it was not. Riven threw himself to his left and barrel rolled. He was short of breathe. Brandon was at his side instantly to pull him out of danger. Riven looked at the beast contemptuously. It bright undamaged left eye challenged him.

Riven fell back unto the ground, breathing hard.

"Riven…!" Musa said. She tried to rush to him.

Professor Palladium cast another powerful spell at the beast. It backed away from the elven professor in fear, acknowledging his power.

Suddenly, the ground glowed purplish around the beast. There was a magic circle beneath it and it spun rapidly. In a flash of light, the beast, whatever it was, had disappeared.

Topaz and Musa landed beside Riven. He grunted in pain and tried to sit up. Musa held him firmly.

"Professor!" Topaz said. "We need your help."

The professor returned to his students. An unspeakable horror met his eyes.

Riven legs were slowly turning to stone. He was being petrified! His transformation quickened and the professor recited his quickest spell. Riven grunted in pain from the impact of the spell but it did nothing but hasten his petrifaction.

Riven cursed as the petrifaction turned his legs to stone and made its way up his torso. Professor Palladium performed another healing spell. It did nothing but cause the transformation to hasten. Riven's breathing hitched and he yelled in pain before finally taking his last breathe and being finally turned into a stone statue in Musa's arms.

"Riven!" Tears formed at Musa's eyes.

Topaz lowered to her knees and touched Riven's petrified body. It was quartz stone.

They all returned to Alfea to be treated for their injuries. Musa would not stop asking about Riven.

Topaz slept for a time in the hospital wing before waking up unable to fall asleep again. From the windows, she could tell that it was probably near midnight. She had spent many nights staying up to study on Melody. The night sky looked so familiar yet the reason why she was up was completely different.

Topaz was unsure of what to do, or what she would do. What she had happened in the forest was completely unexpected. She did not plan on fighting monsters before her first week of school in Magix was out. She felt urges to quit the school but she did not really want to return to Melody.

She could remember the feelings of fear when she fought that monstrosity and it terrified her. She had never been so close to danger. She felt that she was way in over her head.


End file.
